The former commander of the 155th brigade, from which many soldiers deserted to Sochi, has been detained. Charges are being prepared against him.

The State Bureau of Investigation reported this.

Law enforcement officials typically do not disclose the names of individuals involved, however, journalist Yuri Butusov had already announced prior to the official statement from investigators that the individual in question is Dmitry Ryumshin.

According to him, the arrest took place in Chernivtsi, but the former brigade commander has not yet been formally informed of the charges against him. The GBI stated that they are transporting the former brigade commander to Kyiv to inform him of the suspicion under part 4 of Article 426 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The former brigade commander is accused of:

• failing to respond to offenses occurring within his unit, including the unauthorized departure from the military unit by his soldiers;
• not reporting a single incident regarding subordinate military personnel who committed criminal offenses to the pre-trial investigation authorities;
• failing to take other preventive measures to eliminate the causes and conditions that led to the unauthorized departure from the military unit by his subordinates.

The penalty for this article provides for a punishment of up to 10 years of imprisonment. A motion is also planned to be submitted to the court for the imposition of a preventive measure in the form of detention for the suspect.

It should be noted that today it was also revealed that suspicions have been announced against former commanders of the Kharkiv Operational Tactical Unit, the 125th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade, and the 415th Separate Rifle Battalion of the 23rd Separate Mechanized Brigade. They are accused of failing to defend during the advance of Russian troops in May 2024. According to Butusov, former commander of the Kharkiv Operational Tactical Unit Yuri Galushkin and former commander of the 125th Territorial Defense Brigade Arthur Gorbenko were expected to receive suspicion.

Situation with the 155th Brigade

In early January, journalist Yuri Butusov stated that 1,700 servicemen from the 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Anna of Kyiv deserted before the unit made its first shot.

The journalist describes the formation of the brigade as “complete organizational chaos in literally all components.” According to him, since March, when the brigade began to form, a certain number of soldiers left the unit each month. By October, when the brigade went for training in France, there were already 935 soldiers missing. In France itself, another 50 members of the brigade deserted.

The GBI noted that the investigation “is examining the facts reported in the media,” having opened criminal cases regarding desertion and abuse of power or official authority by military officials.

Subsequently, President Vladimir Zelensky took control of the situation regarding desertions and missing soldiers from the 155th Brigade. The commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Mikhail Drapaty, described the situation with the missing soldiers in the 155th Brigade as complex; however, he stated that these were not mass cases.